Principal Project Manager Rail Systems

At Mott Mac Donald, we are driven by purpose and powered by brilliant people. As a trusted engineering, management, and development consultancy, we work with clients to solve complex challenges and deliver sustainable outcomes that make a meaningful difference for the communities we serve.

When you join us as an experienced professional, you will bring your expertise to work that matters while continuing to grow your career. You will collaborate with talented colleagues across disciplines and geographies, contribute your perspective, and help shape better outcomes through technical excellence, innovation, and integrity.

Build on your experience while helping shape what comes next. At Mott Mac Donald, you'll work alongside talented people on complex and rewarding projects that make a real difference. We value fresh perspectives, encourage collaboration, and provide opportunities to expand your skills, take on new challenges, and grow your career. Whether you're deepening your technical expertise, broadening your leadership experience, or exploring new opportunities across our business, you'll be supported by a team that is committed to helping you succeed.

Seattle is continuing to expand and modernize one of the fastest-growing light rail networks in the U.S., with Sound Transit’s Link system extending across the region to connect key employment hubs, residential communities, and major infrastructure corridors. With multiple extensions underway and future phases in development, this is a pivotal moment in shaping how people move across the Puget Sound region for decades to come.

As a leader in the Rail Systems team, you will play a central role in delivering major transit investments across Seattle and the broader region, supporting complex, multidisciplinary rail programs from design through delivery. This role offers a unique opportunity to contribute to high-profile, technically challenging projects while helping to integrate systems across expanding corridors in a dense and evolving urban environment.

Success in this role requires adaptability, strong emotional intelligence, and excellent communication skills, including the ability to translate complex technical concepts for non-technical stakeholders. A collaborative mindset is essential, with a strong emphasis on building relationships with clients, partners, and multidisciplinary teams alongside technical excellence.

You will lead and coordinate a rail systems design team, ensuring alignment across key interfaces including civil, track, structures, stations, utilities, and urban infrastructure, while supporting the continued growth and scaling of the team as projects advance.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead development of rail systems design packages (traction power, OCS, train control, communications, SCADA, and related subsystems) from preliminary through detailed design.
• Manage systems-to-civil interfaces, coordinating closely with track, structures, stations, utilities, and roadway infrastructure.
• Oversee technical reviews to ensure compliance with Owner’s Requirements, as well as constructability, operability, and maintainability.
• Support testing & commissioning activities to verify system performance, safety, and reliability.
• Identify project risks early and develop mitigation strategies to maintain schedule, quality, and integration.
• Ensure all systems designs comply with applicable standards, codes, and safety certification processes relevant to U.S. transit systems and the Pacific Northwest.
• Collaborate across integrated delivery teams to support coordinated program execution.
• Support clients and stakeholders in understanding system functionality, lifecycle considerations, and long-term operational impacts.
• Translate complex technical concepts into clear, accessible insights for a broad range of stakeholders.
• Contribute to technical documentation, including design criteria, standards, and interface control documents.
• Foster a collaborative, transparent team environment and mentor engineers across levels.

Candidate Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, systems engineering, or a related discipline.
• 15+ years of experience in rail systems, ideally across multiple subsystems (traction power, OCS, signaling, communications, SCADA, etc.).
• Demonstrated experience in design development, systems integration, and testing & commissioning on major rail or transit programs.
• Strong experience working within interface-heavy, multidisciplinary environments.
• Excellent…